C:\Fakepath\Ap Psych Project Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia Project

1. Agoraphobia
Conner McMann
A.P. Psych
1
st
period

2. Definition!!!
•Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder,
traditionally thought to involve a fear of
public places and open spaces.

3. Important info!
•However it is said that this disorder comes
from the complications of panic attacks.
•This disorder may arise by the fear of
having a panic attack.

4. Cont’d
•Most people who suffer from this disorder
hardly come into physical or social contact
with any other human beings.
•They pretty much shield themselves from
society.

5. Fun Facts!*!*!
•Approximately 3.2 million adults in the
United States between the ages of 18 and
54, or about 2.2% suffer from
Agoraphobia.

6. •Agoraphobia occurs twice as commonly
among women than it does in men.
•The gender difference may be attributable
to social-cultural factors that encourage, or
permit, the greater expression of avoidant
coping strategies by women.

7. Cont’d
•Other theories say that women are more
likely to seek help and therefore be
diagnosed.
•Men are more likely to abuse alcohol as a
reaction to anxiety and be diagnosed as
an alcoholic.

8. Causes
•The causes of Agoraphobia are currently
unknown.
•It has been linked to the presence of other
anxiety disorders, a stressful environment
or substance abuse.

9. Factors
•Chronic use of tranquilizers and sleeping
pills such as benzodiazepines have been
linked to causing Agoraphobia.

10. Diagnosis
•Most people who present to the mental
health specialists develop agoraphobia
after the onset of a panic disorder.
•Agoraphobia is best understood as an
adverse behavioral outcome of repeated
panic attacks and subsequent anxiety and
preoccupation with these attacks that
leads to an avoidance of situations where
a panic attack could occur.

11. Treatment
•Exposure treatment can provide lasting
relief to the majority of patients with panic
disorder and agoraphobia.
•Systematic desensitization may also be
used.

12. Alternative Treatments
•Eye movement desensitization and
reprogramming has been studied as a
possible treatment for agoraphobia, with
poor results.
•EMDR is only recommended in cases
where cognitive-behavioral approaches
have proven ineffective or in cases where
agoraphobia has developed following
trauma.

14. More treatments
•Many people with anxiety disorders benefit from
joining a self-help or support group.
•Sharing problems and achievements with others
as well as sharing various self-help tools are
common in these groups.

15. Characteristics
•People develop anxiety when thinking about
being in a situation out of their comfort zone.
•They try to avoid these types of situations
which bring them anxiety or panic.

16. People with this disorder
•Howard Hughes the well known and
respected aviator and billionaire bought
himself a hotel and lived out his life in
seclusion.
•According to historians, he suffered from
anxiety panic attacks and a phobia of
germs.

17. Howard Hughes

18. Kim Basinger
•As a child, Kim Basinger seemed so
withdrawn her parents asked doctors if
she had autism or some other psychiatric
disorder, but tests revealed nothing.

19. Cont’d
•By high school, she had developed a self-
deprecating sense of humor that helped
her make friends.
•She was divorced twice and bought the
entire town of Braselton, Georgia for 20
million dollars.

20. Conclusion
•Agoraphobia 100 years ago would have
been devastating.
•The technology today is making the
disease is making it less devastating on
peoples lives and it is making it easier to
live with.